Noteworthy

**So one of the boys (I will let your mind wonder) said to me this morning, "Mom, I am never going to be a man". His head was hanging down. I cautiously asked "Why?"....there was a long pause and then he said, with his head still hanging down, "because, I am allergic to cologne!"

**Yesterday on our drive to school I asked the crew who wanted to pray first....before either of
the boys could reply, MK shouted "Meeee!"

**As I type this post, MK is sitting at the kitchen table reading Pinkalicious to her milk cup. She finished eating her apple to which she said, "mommy, apple, all gone"....then she said "mommy, ead (read), book"....and now she is in there saying "more, more, more, mommy"....that is her favorite page of the entire book, the page that the little girl begs her mommy for more pink cupcakes. Though sometimes we struggle to understand every sound her mouth produces, I love to hear her talk!

**Check out www.nohandsbutours.blogspot.com and click on family stories to read about MK's Dianjiang pal, David. What a cutie! And, he is a South Carolina Gamecock fan to boot!

The Beginning of the End

After almost exactly three years of hashing through paperwork, getting fingerprinted over and over, and various other things that needed to be done for our adoption, we are nearing the end. Last night we had our very last home visit with our social worker. Come March 17, we are DONE! Of course, that is, if we passed the final inspection. You see, Colin and Pryce started off their morning questioning me on what the social worker was going to ask them....I had no idea was my response. So Pryce said, "is he going to ask about how many times she has to sit in timeout?"....hmmmm. Being that timeouts just don't sound encouraging and I hated to make a bad final impression during our visit, I told them to focus on her good qualities like her laughter and her liking to play outside and then Pryce chimes in "and we can tell him how she burps on purpose when we ask her to?" Oh my, was I concerned. Well, as it turns out, all went well....or for the most part. The beginning was the part I hope he concentrates on when writing our final report, the part where MK and Pryce colored happily at the kitchen table together, laughing at each other and graciously exchanging crayons, and the part where Colin was busy studying for a science test in another room, all was well, everyone was happy and engaged....UNTIL, Colin finished his homework, Pryce was done coloring and MK decided she would like to disobey mommy by peeling off the crayon paper (a minor pet peave of mine, how do you know what the exact color is without the wrapper?). I very calmly took all crayons from MK and brought her into the living room to chat with the SW while the boys chose to play the computer. Peace again. Amongst all of the toys that are laid out in our living room for her to play with, she finds the gun that Pryce purchased over the weekend complete with a holster. As if that wasn't enough, MK insisted that the holster be attached to her so she could hoist the gun out of the container and say "pew, pew".....the SW deemed her a little Annie Oakley and called it a night. We are just thankful that he has a sense of humor!

Battle Of Aiken

Colin has been studying the Civil War. In fact, very early on in the school year, Colin came home and announced we needed to move. Ryan and I both were stunned but if you know Colin, he has quite the serious tone about him. We asked why and he proceeded to tell us that he did not agree with slavery and, for that reason, it was time for us to head north. He was serious. We explained to him that we were proud of him for feeling so strongly about something but that slavery was in the past, everyone had moved on and he needed to move on also. Fast forward a few months, we are sitting front row at the Battle of Aiken, a local Civil War re-enactment. Canons are firing off, soldiers are riding in on horses, the smell of gunpowder is filling the air as we sit with our mouths open in anticipation of soldiers falling to the ground. So at one point during all of the firing of guns, I leaned over and asked Colin where all of our men were - I saw the Union men but it appeared the Confederate soldiers had taken cover, they were nowhere in sight. Colin pointed to the Union men and said "mom, those ARE our men, they are right there"....past or not past, the child is firm in his beliefs! Later, while praying before bed, he thanked God for allowing him to have a funnel cake at the battle, so we do believe there to be a good balance between seriousness and child-like behavior. Moving onto Pryce. Honestly I wish that I could have recorded all of the comments he made throughout the day. Of course I cannot remember them all as I type this, but the one that stands out was during the very beginning of our day....Pryce walked into a merchant tent hoping to find a play gun to purchase. He looked around at some of the antique jewelry, the old shoes, the period coins and then said quite loudly, "Awww, cool, so this is what it was like in the 1980s!!!" I aged 30 years when he said that! Then we traveled on into the Union camps. A soldier invited the boys over to chat with him around their campfire. Both boys went over. The soldier asked if they would like to join the infantry, they both excitedly said yes and then the man asked "where's your musket, don'tcha know we're at war?" Pryce yells, "oh yeah, we don't have one yet....we are on our way to buy one"....the soldier started spouting off something about rich boys buying guns and thinking they could fight the war. Then the battle came. Pryce is not a fan of loud noises. He cried real tears at one point and expressed his desire to leave, go home and take a nap - three things he rarely wants to do on a family outing. So, the battle begun, Pryce sat there with his hands covering both ears and one eye open to see the action. A canon fired and he opened both eyes. Both the Union soldiers and the Confederate men begun to charge each other. Pryce took his hands off of his ears, looked at the men fighting and yelled "Go get'em boys!"....and this is how the remainder of the battle went for him. He yelled at those men as if he were the drill master. Afterwards, he said, "mom, I thought that was going to be boring and scarey but it was soooo cool!" Thank goodness he isn't scarred for life! Mason-Kate was along for the ride which is pretty much the story of her life on most days. She handled the day with grace, smiling her way through the crowds, posing for pictures, shooting pop guns. We attended a church service that we literally stumbled upon while visiting the Confederate camp. During the opening prayer, I kept my eyes open with my head bowed just to make sure she did not get into any attention grabbing mischief. Without anyone prompting her, she looked around at the people in prayer and fixed her own "pretty hands" to pray. I made eye contact with her and she just smiled. The amazing thing about MK was during the battle. It was naptime for the Miss and when she is running on low fuel, things can get nasty. So, she screamed while Robert E. Lee made his speech and then a canon fired. Mason-Kate let out a scream in fear, dove into my chest, I covered her ears and she fell ASLEEP. Unbelievable! For one hour, as the guns were firing, our ears were ringing, smoke was filling the air and canons were booming, the princess slept. Amazing!

Taking it all in!

The boys making themselves comfortable at the church service and at camp.

Pryce taking a little catnap while MK keeps a look out for the battle to begin.

Colin was enthralled with the size of the guns used during the war.